Friday, September 30, 2011

Hi All!I've just completed a successful week of kids crafting with some very happy and satisfied young crafters.One of our young students, only six years old, made six memory wire bracelets and a witchy-poo card in the two-hour session!! Once she got the knack of how to hold and thread the wire with the beads she was away, there was no stopping her!Here's some pics of the crafts Carrie (not her real name) and I made with the kids:

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We made memory or remembrance wire beaded bracelets with the kids. These are not the actual ones the girls made since they took they're bracelets home with them.What they did make was pretty spectacular.

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Beady aliens. Using some glow-in-the-dark beads can add some real interest.

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This is a sample of the Witchy-poo card we made. We made a simplified version with our kids; ie without the round cutout and magic spells at the front.

﻿﻿ If you're from Melbourne, Australia, good quality memory wires are available for a good price from "Theos Discount Crafts" at 3 Macquarie Place, Boronia. Another Melbourne stockist is "Spacetraders" in St Kilda and you can order from them online. If you're from overseas a search in Google or another search engine for "memory wire" or "remembrance wire" should bring up some stockists that will sell online to you or look out for it at your local craft supplies stockist.

The Witchy-poo card features a turning wheel held in place with a brad. Inside the little round window on the front of this card are written magic words and spells so the card can be used as a game; ie kids can take turns turning the wheel so that a new magic spell or word appears which the child can cast or act out.

I sourced my pony beads (9mmx 6mm) for the Beady aliens online through e-Bay. The patterns for these came from a Beady kit I bought years ago. This kit, as far as I know, is no longer available unfortunately but give the kids an idea and they'll run with it creating they're very own alien beady designs. You can use scooby plastic for these but I just used some thin plastic tubing I found at a hardware shop. It's exactly the same sort of stuff just heaps cheaper.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hi All!I have just added three of my original crochet patterns to the PATTERNS page of this blog. These patterns are for instructions on how to tailor make a crochet teddy bear's or doll's tu-tu, as posted below, a thread crochet pattern for wedding/Christmas mini bells and a beaded milk jug or creamer cover ( both of these thread crochet patterns are not posted here on the main page but can be accessed on the PATTERNS page of this blog). All patterns include pictures.

Back & front views of both two-strapped and halterneck versions of crochet bear/doll tu-tu.

Hi everyone!

Finally I am posting one of my own crochet patterns; instructions on how to tailor make a tu-tu for teddy bears or dolls.

Cate's crochet tu-tu dress pattern for Bears and Dolls.

Hook size:Select whatever size hook is appropriate for the yarn you are using.

Note: This pattern is written using Australian/British crochet terms. American crochet terms written are in brackets.

Starting with the waistband:

Make enough chains to fit around Bear's/doll's waist.

Do not join.

Ch1, turn, dc (sc) in each chain to end. Do not join.

Bib:

Hold waistband around bear's/doll's waist with opening at the back. Place markers on top of waistband at right and left hand side of bear's chest to mark points to crochet between for tu-tu's bib. Slip stitch to 1st marker.

Ch1, dc (sc) to next marker and continue thusly in rows between the markers until desired length is reached, approximately up to bear's neck. Do not finish. Do not turn.

Shoulder strap (make 2):

Continuing from the top corner of the bib; Make as many chains as will reach over the bears shoulder to top of waistband at the back, directly below the shoulder. Attach shoulder strap you've just made with sl.st being careful not to twist it.

Ch1, turn, dc (sc) along shoulder strap in each chain to end. Sl.st to top corner of bib and finish off.

Attach thread to other corner of the bib and make 2nd strap to match first.

Note: Some experimentation may be necessary to achieve the desired degree and placement of frilling on the skirt. Multiple stitches into a single stitch in every stitch of the skirt's row will result in frilling. No more than three stitches into every stitch would be necessary. Where you place this frilling and how much of it you create is up to your particular preference.

Finishing Off:

Sew in all threads except the last one made, then sew up the back seam of the tu-tu, up to and including the waistband, with this last thread.

Variations:

A halter neck can be created by positioning a single shoulder strap to the correct length back around the bears neck and attaching it to the front of the opposite side of the bib with a bead or decorative button, do not attach strap to bib with a slst. The strap consists of a row of chains, turning and crocheting dc's (sc's) into each chain as described above for shoulder strap. To facilitate the bead or button a small loop must be incorporated into the end of the strap.

Copyright: Cathy Weaver, June 13th 2001

Well I do hope some of you can get some use out of these instructions.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The lacy fingerless gloves I crocheted for my Fred Hollows Charity stall as per URL given below. A very nice pattern and very simple to crochet.

A close up view of the stitching.

Hi All!

It's been quiet here for a while. I haven't posted anything here for a time since I've been busy working on items for my charity crafts stall for The Fred Hollows Foundation: crocheted Lotus neck scarves, crocheted necklaces made from "ladder" or "trellis" yarn, crochet beaded sun hats, mini magnets, paper dolls, and crocheted long fingerless gloves.

We celebrated Father's Day here on the weekend firstly by going to a Bavarian restaurant in the mountains about an hour's drive up a winding road east of here in the Dandenong Ranges at a restaurant called "The Cuckoo". It was smorgasboard but we all were given potato soup first of all served up to our table.

I had prawn salad and chicken liver pate and crackers for entree then hot potato, rice, fish pieces and steamed vegetables for mains. I then had a small piece of watermelon and a small piece of chocolate cake/slice for dessert followed by tea. There was entertainment which was great and very funny. It was a yodeller/cow bell ringer who also did some comedy. He got the customers going; clapping, cheering, singing, laughing and he had the children ringing bells also. We had a great time. That was on Saturday the day before Father's Day.We'll go back again for sure. Perhaps for the OctoberFest for my birthday.

On Sunday we had lunch at home with some other family members: potato salad, green salad, devilled eggs, marinated steak and chicken drumsticks followed by caramel pie topped with merangue and tea and coffee. Yumm!!!

About Me

I love to raise funds for charity by making and selling my craftwork and love to help others to do so as well.
I am a CWA (Country Womens Association) member which is like the Womens Institute in Britain. I am the President at my local branch and was Treasurer the previous three years. I'm the webmaster of my CWA group, which incorporates five branches.
I have a number of years of scientific training under my belt ie Chemistry and Aquatic Biology formally, but informally much more.
I run "Crafters for Charity", a group where members donate their crafts for me to sell with ALL the proceeds going to charity, currently to The Fred Hollows Foundation, www.hollows.org but also we've also donated funds to American Red Cross, Unicef and Habitat for Humanity.
We've now raised $70,000+ for charity since our small beginnings in the year 2000.
Click on "My Web Page" in my Profile info for more about "Crafters for Charity" through our "Crafters for Charity" e-mail list with Yahoo!-Groups.